Guest artist Justin Benavidez will present a recital with Megan Gale, piano, in Turner Hall at the Blair School of Music. His program will include works by Saint-Saëns, McCollum, Goodman, and Piazzolla, and is free and open to the public.

Dr. Justin Benavidez is the professor of tuba and euphonium at the Florida State University College of Music and performs as principal tuba of the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra. In the summer, he is on faculty at the Round Top Music Festival in Texas.

​With his playing noted for its "tremendous virtuosity and stylistic versatility", Benavidez has performed in venues throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. He has been featured numerous times on APM's Performance Today radio program. His debut solo album, EMBLEMS, won Silver Medals in the Classical Album and Instrumental Solo Album categories of the Global Music Awards. The International Tuba Euphonium Association Journal described it as "an impressive and highly entertaining record" on which Benavidez "shreds with enthusiasm, exuberance, and precision". 

​As an orchestral musician, Benavidez has appeared as guest tubist with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra, and Utah Symphony. He was previously the principal tuba of the Syracuse Symphoria Orchestra and the Syracuse Opera.

​Benavidez has been a prizewinner of multiple international solo competitions. He is the only tubist to have been awarded both the New Horizons Fellowship and the Orchestral Fellowship at the Aspen Music Festival where he was a student for six summers, held the principal tuba chair in the festival orchestra, and was the winner of the prestigious Aspen Music Festival concerto competition.

​Benavidez was the distinguished recipient of the Horace H. Rackham Merit Fellowship for doctoral studies at the University of Michigan and was presented with the UM School of Music, Theatre & Dance Paul Boylan Award for outstanding accomplishments and significant contributions in the field of music.

As one of today's leading educators, Benavidez is frequently invited to present master classes and perform as a guest recitalist at preeminent universities, workshops, and conferences. Notable invitations have included the Eastman School of Music, Indiana University, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Michigan, the Kunitachi College of Music in Tokyo, the Bern University of the Arts, the Lyon Conservatory of Music, the Paris Conservatory of Music, the United States Army Band Tuba Euphonium Workshop, and multiple International Tuba Euphonium Conferences.

​Benavidez was awarded the FSU University Teaching Award in 2021. His students have distinguished themselves through numerous accomplishments and awards, including first place prizes at international competitions, assistantships for graduate study, performing positions with professional ensembles, and teaching positions at secondary and collegiate institutions.

​As a scholar, Benavidez was awarded the McKnight Faculty Fellowship to complete his research on the most significant solo repertoire for tuba, culminating in a critical volume that will be published by Oxford University Press for release in 2023. He currently serves as the editor-in-chief for the ITEA Journaland was the editor for Flow Studies through Mountain Peak Music, a daily routine regimen for tuba.

​Benavidez is a Melton Meinl Weston performing artist and Denis Wick performing artist. He proudly performs on his Meinl Weston 2182W F tuba and Nirschl York CC tuba.